The Simple Secrets to Better Health

The China Report-- October 2006

Our China travel group of dentists attending the World Dental Conference in Shenzhen (next to Hong Kong) had a special interest in health care, particularly dental health. In general terms, I would say that the Chinese are ahead of us and behind us. Let me explain.

To look at the Chinese on the street, one sees many smiles with discoloured and stained teeth. Esthetics is clearly not a big concern for the Chinese, male or female, although that does appear to be changing as young people definitely had better smiles than adults. Seeing the dentist every 6 months has clearly not been an option for many of the older people. China is opening many new dental schools now and there is a real effort to correct this problem.

On the other hand, there were very few people missing a lot of teeth. We saw very few without teeth and none with dentures. While their teeth didn’t look as nice as ours in the west, they still had them! Their diet and lifestyle has played a huge role in this pattern.

The Chinese diet is comprised of a variety of vegetables from sweet potatoes to broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi and, of course, rice. Fish is common, as well as chicken, pork and beef. Green tea is abundant as is their mild draught beer. Dessert is watermelon in most cases. They eat with chop sticks which slows them down, but only slightly. It slowed us down! Their high fibre and antioxidant rich diets play a major role in keeping them as healthy as they are.

The Chinese do not have a lot of fast foods, although KFC and McDonald’s are both there in small numbers and growing. You can recognize the kids who have been captivated by this market as they are usually the more affluent ones .These kids demonstrate that skinny is not a genetic trait of the Chinese, but an environmental factor. They gain just as much weight as we do when we mostly consume a fast food diet.

It was also easy to recognize the role exercise plays in their life. Every morning at dawn, many groups, large and small, are out doing their morning exercises. These range from Ti Chi, to ballroom dancing and 45 minute exercise and stretching routines. When we joined a group in Shanghai, they found us quite a novelty. They welcomed us but never stopped the routine. At the end, we were able to keep up with them but we were sore for about 2 days after the workout. We gave several of them Canadian pins at the end. Generally, we found the Chinese very inclusive.

One of our fellow travelers, who is a physician, developed a severe case of diarrhea in Beijing. None of the drugs she had with her were helpful. She was advised to visit a private health clinic on the 9th floor of the building where our hotel was located. She found it to be immaculate and as well equipped as anything we would have in Canada. It had a Chinese physician who had done research at the Royal Victoria hospital in Montreal but was not granted a Canadian medical license. She had several tests, was given an I.V. to restore her electrolytes and some meds from their small pharmacy. Within a day, she was back to full strength. The cost was $300 U.S.

Some members on our group visited a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) hospital. Acupuncture was a common therapy and there was also a pharmacy with herbal remedies.

We chose to visit the research facility of a nutritional company located in Shanghai’s high tech park. We met with several of the scientists and were impressed with the attention paid to details such as determining the active ingredients in Shitake mushrooms and green tea. Clearly, we will see wonderful things emerging from China’s pharmaceutical and nutraceutical research facilities.

In summary, I would say the Chinese are behind us in treatment, which is dependent on health professionals. On the other hand, they are ahead of us in wellness behaviours like balanced diet, moderate exercise and cellular nutrition with vitamins/minerals and antioxidants.

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